How does alcohol affect fat loss and muscle gain?

Saturday, I went out drinking – it was a Christmas night out with the boys, and it was awesome! It's safe to say I got pretty drunk – I don't go out drinking very often, so I made the most of it!

December is a notoriously alcohol-filled month, and it's safe to say that alcohol is not conducive to either muscle gain or fat loss goals.

Prefer to watch than read? Then please check out the video below:

How does alcohol affect fat loss?

Alcohol is calorie-dense: 7 calories per gram

It's calorie-dense and not the most satiating of energy sources. One pint is approximately 239 calories, equivalent to a small meal or a mars bar – both are more satiating than a pint. Once you've knocked back that pint, your body responds to it metabolically similar to how it responds to poison – holding off metabolising all the other nutrients until the alcohol’s gone. I'm not sure why I'm using pints as my example – I don't drink pints. I'm more of a vodka and coke kind of guy, but for the purpose of this example, let's stick with it.

Alcohol can increase fat storage

Your body can't store the pint's alcohol as fat – instead, when alcohol is in your system, carbs and, especially fats, are preferentially shuttled towards fat storage. In other words, the alcohol isn't causing fat gain at that time but rather inhibiting the oxidation of other macronutrients, subsequently storing them as body fat. [1]

So, alcohol is not ideal for fat loss, and I've not even mentioned the infamous post-drinking binge, also known as a 'hangover cure' – usually in the form of a full English breakfast.

How does alcohol impact muscle gain?

Alcohol reduces testosterone levels

Firstly, let's address its impact on testosterone – a very powerful anabolic hormone. If you have high testosterone levels, you won't have difficulty making gains – if you have lower testosterone levels, making gains is much more challenging. With light drinking, so just a few drinks, testosterone levels are actually [2] shown to increase, but if you continue to knock them back and increase the dose of alcohol or drink far too often, your testosterone levels will plummet [3], along with decreasing muscle protein synthesis, mTOR signalling [4] and when training you’ll see reduced muscle force production and increased fatigue [5]. None of which are good for your gains.

Alcohol is toxic to your testosterone-producing Leydig cells in your testicles [6] that's right, your balls, your family jewels, your gonads, deez nuts – they don't like alcohol!

This explains why alcohol’s gain robbing ability is specifically targeting us dudes and our precious plumbs.

You don't have to worry about this if you're female, lucky you!

Summary

So, alcohol is not great for those wanting to build muscle or lose fat, but that doesn't mean you can't or shouldn't enjoy a few drinks here and there, or even the odd alcohol-fueled night out. The devil is in the dosage, so moderation is key, and after all, it's Christmas – enjoy yourself!